The airline industry always seems to produce compelling stories over the course of a year, and 2014 was no exception.
TravelPulse.com presents a look back at these past 12 months at some of the triumphs - and tragedies - in aviation.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Truly a devastating year for the airline. Entering 2014, Malaysia Airlines was already in financial difficulties, having suffered losses for three consecutive years. Then, in March, one of its flights - MH370 - disappeared. Literally. The flight, headed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, made a dramatic U-turn at some point and then just disappeared from radar.
It is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, but not a single piece of debris has been found. Four months later, a second tragedy. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in July over Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Mistaken or not, the plane was believed to have been brought down by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. All told, more than 500 passengers and crew lost their lives.
RECORD PROFITS ...
Nobody saw this coming, especially after a disastrous first quarter of the year in which airlines suffered thousands upon thousands of flight delays and cancellations due to an especially fierce winter, particularly in the major population centers of the Northeast and Midwest. U.S. airlines made a combined $6.7 billion profit in the second and third quarters, respectively.
Citing dropping oil prices and stronger worldwide GDP growth, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted that globally, airlines are expected to post a collective net profit this year of $19.9 billion.
… BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
Yes, it's good to have a robust airline industry, although the profit margin is still fairly low compared to other businesses. Yet the perception among fliers is that as profits rise, the level of service and a general sense of passenger concern has fallen. Delta next year is introducing a new five-tier seating plan that presumably will also mean a new five-tier pricing plan.
JetBlue finally caved to investors and is adding baggage fees. The seats are slimmer, to add more passengers. The other ancillary fees (check-in, carry-ons, seat selection, etc.) are growing fatter. Fuel prices are plummeting but the airlines say they can't pass on the savings until their current contracts are up, as they are locked into fixed prices. As much as the airlines doth protest, this nonetheless needs to be a concern for them.
THE KNEE DEFENDER
The most-talked about airline gadget of the year. The Knee Defender attaches to a passenger's tray table and prevents the person in front of them from reclining their seat. The device came to light - and spurred record sales, subsequently - when two passengers got into it earlier this year on a United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver. Their argument and altercation was enough to convince the pilot to make an emergency landing in Chicago. The two passengers were removed, and the flight continued on to Denver where it landed 98 minutes late. The two face a fine of up to $25,000.
AMERICAN AIRLINES/US AIRWAYS MERGER
By all accounts, the first full year of the merger - it became official in December of 2013 - was a rousing success. American made $2.4 billion in profit through the first nine months of the year, including a record $942 million in the second quarter alone.
That was enough for the carrier to produce its first dividend in 34 years and initiate a $1 billion stock buyback plan. Up next, however, is the hard part of the merger - synching its reservation systems and coming to contract agreements with the labor unions.
NORWEGIAN AIR
Norwegian Air wants to run low-cost flights from Europe to the U.S., but they want to do it of Ireland and now Norway. That has the U.S. airlines, labor unions for pilots and flight attendants, and some members of Congress with their tighty-whiteys twisted.
They claim that Norwegian is skirting Norway's labor laws by using Dublin as a home base. The saga has been ongoing for more than a year; a final ruling on Norwegian's application with the Department of Transportation is pending.
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